Here is the latest of Bill’s blog posts. He, and we, hope it will be helpful to all those battling late stage prostate cancer. Click here for earlier parts if you missed them.
Blog X: One cycle down and on to number two
I had my second cycle of Taxotere + carboplatin last week. Cycle 1 side effects were about what I recalled from my Taxotere back in 2008. However, the carboplatin seems to really add to the change in taste. In fact for a few days everything tastes so bad that just the thought of eating anything turns my stomach. I am through the worst of cycle 2 (I hope). About 2 days after the infusion I get the feeling of a really bad hangover (without all the fun beforehand) and that lasts a few days. During the balance of the cycle I feel better (although fatigued) and while I can eat food, it does not taste good. I get neuropathy in feet and hands and the discomfort peaks mid-cycle and then resolves a bit but does not go away completely. I also get a lot of a nose bleeds. Lost some hair and the rest is pretty thin.
It does appear that the chemo is having a positive impact on my cancer. My PSA dropped from 116 to 79 and my ALP and other blood markers improved.
Discussed the situation with my oncologist and I confirmed with him that he is concerned that I may have developed some anaplastic neuroendocrine cancer. My guess is that even if I do have some of that nasty stuff, I also still have a bunch of plain old adenocarcinoma, so the PSA drop and improvement in blood markers is a positive in any event. This is definitely a “one day at a time” thing. The chemo has not helped my pain very much but it is early and I am hoping to see some improvement in the coming weeks.
While at the oncologist’s office I signed some consent forms for pre-screening for a Phase I clinical trial. The pre-screening requires they go back to my RP tumor tissue and look to see if it contains a protein called Nectin-4. If it does I may qualify for the trial (depending on the outcome of the chemo) but since the pre-screening takes 6 weeks, we felt it was better to get started now just in case. The Phase I trial is for a drug called AD-22CE. AD-22CE is a targeted chemotherapy approach using a fully human monoclonal antibody that delivers a drug to cells that express Nectin-4 protein. More details on that if and when I qualify and it becomes an option.
Filed under: Living with Prostate Cancer, Management, Treatment | Tagged: blog, Manning |
THE "NEW" PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK 
To Bill: A bigger man than I.
Thank you for sharing your story/experiences Bill. From day one of my diagnosis, stage IV, 7 years ago, I have maintained a realistic set of expectations, every day is a blessing, and the medical community, although handcuffed in their ability to find an immediate cure for us all, has given hope and positive results with every new drug they find. Best of luck with the balance of your treatments.
BIll:
I don’t relish a second round of chemo — sounds like it gets nastier. Glad to see the PSA is dropping. If you believe the trial will help, then I am wishing you all the best in getting qualified. BTW, I searched for AD-22CE and the great database god tells me it is a hexadecimal color code for Minnesota Vikings purple. I hope you find the the strength of the Norsemen as you continue with your treatments. All my best, thanks for the continued posts.